The black plague of the new age

The Waiting Game

As BP’s black plague inches closer to area beaches the
British oil giant is still unable to stem the flow. Robots succeeded in
cutting the pipe that the diamond bladed saw failed to cut. This triumph was
marred by a bit of tragedy, the cut was jagged, which will make capping the
leak difficult. If the capping effort fails, then it could be August before the
leak can be stopped. Each time an attempt to plug the damaged well fails the
threat to the coastal main land increases. As the waiting game continues, the
Gulf fishing grounds grow smaller and more and more fisherman are out of work.

Tropical storm surge Courtesy of Newell Family Fotos

The winds of Change

If BP didn’t have enough problems, June 1st, is
the beginning of the gulf hurricane season. The National Hurricane Center is predicting
this to be a very active season with as many 18 storms forming, 8 to 14 of which
could be major. This could prove catastrophic for both BP and the coastal area.
One major storm making landfall anywhere in the coastal region while the oil in the gulf could be the end of that community and / or cities for hundreds of
miles.

The Department of Environmental
Quality is telling residence along the Gulf Coast that there is no danger to
drinking water wells or soil contamination. This is a true fact, for now. However,
if a major storm should make land fall on the coast even with just a twenty
foot storm surge; it could bring the oil as far as a quarter of a mile inland. Then
if the storm surge is followed by heavy rain it would cause the oil to seep
down into drinking water wells (both public and private), contaminating the soil,
as well as marshlands and freshwater rivers.

Dead in the water

The Katrina response will seem lightening fast compared to a response to a major storm with the oil spill
involved. FEMA is still reeling financially from Katrina, as well as all the
other catastrophes that America has experienced since then. It is very likely
that any help from them would be small and well guarded. Like a good neighbor
your insurance companies will once again slap the South with those good hands
by saying that your home owner policies do not cover contamination from an
offshore oil spill (even in a storm). They may also blame any and all property damage on the oil, rather than the surge and skillfully escape having to pay flood claims. This will then leave the recovery of the
Gulf Coast region dead in the water.

The first responders were not the only ones to suffer from
the pollution caused by Chernobyl. Thousands of people were exposed to deadly
amounts of radiation in the nearby town of Pripyat and were never told of the
dangers. The Government and Chernobyl Co officials downplayed the explosion and
the risk in an effort to keep them hid as long as possible. It wasn’t until the
radiation detectors at a Swiss Nuclear Power plant began to go off that the people
of Pripyat and the world began to hear about the disaster. It was almost 48 hours before an evacuation of Pripyat began
by then thousands were dead people walking and didn’t know it.

Today we heard ABC News tell of how workers on the BP cleanup
crews were getting sick but were afraid to come forward for fear of losing
their jobs. Many of these workers are out of work fisherman who are forced to
work the clean up to feed their families. Petroleum pollution exposure causes respertory
problems which symptoms mimic the flu but are far more dangerous. Prolonged
exposure can lead to Asthma, Bronchitis, Pneumonia, and possible COPD. Most of
these cleanup workers have little or no knowledge of the risk involved with
dealing with these toxins. The clothing and equipment they are given offer very
little protection from the oil. Most leave out of port wearing T shirts,
gloves, hard hats and life vest.

Oil pushed ashore by a hurricane could bring this danger to residence
of the Coast. If the soil is contaminated it would hold the oil and that would
lead to air pollution which would directly affect the lives of all who live
in the affected areas. Along with the deteriorating economy and health of the
people, property values on the coast would become worthless. Insurance cost driven to astronomical levels after Hurricane Katrina would become unreachable. Thousands of
property owners would be forced to virtually give their houses and lands away.
It would be like trying to sell a vacation spot on Three Mile Island.

Who's Job is it anyway

Anybody, Somebody, and Nobody, in
looking at the crisis itself; we have to ask why there were no contingency
plans in place for such a disaster. Anybody in any of the drilling companies
could have done research and development on a disaster plan. Somebody in the
upper echelon should have had insight enough to know that this was a real
threat, yet nobody did. You would think somebody on the “Green Team” would have
threw an out right fit over the lack of controls on deep water drilling. Yet in
this instance, Green Peace held their peace.

While Washington is trying to stay
as far away from the tar balls as possible, the Obama administration must stop
playing the blame game and get involved. Since this tragedy began I have been
asking myself, “Where is the Army Corps of engineers?” In dealing with safety of the people on this
clean-up operation, “Where is Osha?”

The Governments responses to these
questions are that they are letting BP handle this problem because they are the
experts. These so called experts have had almost two months to get this
situation under control and have failed. Washington spends Billions of tax
payer dollars every year to study such things as; the mating habits of the fruit
fly and why mud sticks to pavement. It is time to spend some taxpayer dollars
and bring in “our disaster experts to save the Gulf Coast.”

Course of Action

There is hope; while stopping the gushing oil is paramount, we must also look to some preventative measures as well.

First and foremost educate
the people- Let the men and women of the Gulf coast region know what they
are dealing with and what they can do to prepare and protect themselves
and their families.

Do some pre-emptive work
to protect the inland areas before a storm or storm surge threatens the
area.

Employ a collective
effort-This should not just be British Petroleum’s problem, this threatens
America as a whole and if not curtailed soon, it could very well affect
the entire world. Step up Uncle Sam and put your work clothes on.

Last but certainly not least, Don't forget to pray; There is nothing too hard for God! Jesus is certainly concerned about the lives involved here, and seeing that everyone else has failed, it is time to watch and see what God does best, the IMPOSSIBLE!